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Inability to handle the numbers at Tesco
When Tesco finance director Andrew Higginson was recently given the role of chief executive of the company's retailing services division following its buying out of its partner Royal Bank of Scotland in Tesco Personal Finance it was widely regarded in the media as a promotion.
By Glynn Davis
But some people see it differently. Apparently the big cheeses at Tesco do not regard the move as a promotion. Although it is a board-level role it involves him giving
This might have helped Tesco avoid its recent run-in with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) when it was found to have exaggerated the cheapness of its products as it fights for market share while shoppers flee to the discount and value players Netto, Aldi and Lidl.
The ASA disagreed with Tesco's ads that reckoned the grocer was more than 50 per cent cheaper than rivals Asda and Morrisons for a basket of common items. It ruled that many of the items were far from common and were unlikely to feature in the typical shoppers' basket.
According to independent price comparisons Tesco is not quite 50 per cent cheaper but is in fact more expensive than Asda. And as for how it compares with the value operators, this must be dependent on a new numbers person joining because Tesco never seems able to do the comparisons between its prices and those at the three value operators. Maybe the amounts saved by the competition have been simply too big for its previous FD to handle.
Tagged as: retail viewpoint | glynn davis | tesco
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